2 The Need for Integrating Wetlands in Water
Management
Wetland is a generic term used for aquatic ecosystems located at the interface of
land and water and combining attributes of terrestrial as well as aquatic ecosystems
(Keddy 2010). The Ramsar Convention (a multilateral environmental agreement on
wetlands ratified by 171 countries, including India, which ratified the Convention in
1982) uses a broad definition of wetlands as ‘areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water,
whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or
flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water, the depth of which
at low tide does not exceed six metres’ (Ramsar 2016).
To ensure connectivity between different habitats, Article 2.1 of the Convention
provides that riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands and islands or
bodies of marine water deeper than six metres at low tide lying within the wetlands
may also be included within the boundary (Ramsar 2016). This broad-ranging
definition thus covers a large category of inland aquatic systems (such as ponds,
lakes, marshes, swamps and peatlands); coastal and nearshore marine ecosystems
(such as coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and estuaries); and human-made
wetlands (such as rice–paddies, fish ponds and water storage areas as tanks,
reservoirs and dams).
The term ‘water bodies’ is commonly used in the Indian water sector to distinguish water storage areas from flowing systems such as rivers (GoI 2018a).
Wetlands are diverse, ranging from open-water-dominated systems (such as lakes,
ponds or tanks), wherein evapotranspiration is not constrained by water availability,
to those wherein water is at or frequently below the surface (such as swamps and
marshes), and evapotranspiration is regulated by plant physiology (McCartney and
Acreman 2009). Thus, all water bodies are wetlands, but not all wetlands are ‘water
storage’ areas, in the sense used by the water sector.
India has a diverse wetland regime ranging from high-altitude lakes of the
Himalayas, floodplains and marshes of the Gangetic–Brahmaputra alluvial plains,
saline flats of Great Indian Desert, tank-studded Deccan Peninsula to extensive
mangroves and coral reef areas bordering the country’s east and the west coastline
(Kumar et al. 2017). As per the National Wetlands Atlas (SAC 2011), India has
15.26 million ha under wetlands, accounting for nearly 4.6% of her geographical
area (Fig. 1). In terms of biogeographic zones, the coasts and the Deccan region
have the maximum wetlands areas, the proportion of natural wetlands being higher
in the former and human-made in the latter.
Wetlands, in their various occurrences, forms and characteristics, play an
important role in functioning of the water cycle (Bullock and Acreman 2003). As
water moves through the surface or underground, it passes through wetlands, which
in turn regulate the quantity, quality and reliability of water. Wetlands provide vital
water-related ecosystem services at different scales (e.g. clean water provision,
wastewater treatment, groundwater replenishment) and, thereby, offer significant
opportunities to address water management objectives with sustainable and, in
Wetlands and Water Management: Finding a Common Ground
107
Management
Wetland is a generic term used for aquatic ecosystems located at the interface of
land and water and combining attributes of terrestrial as well as aquatic ecosystems
(Keddy 2010). The Ramsar Convention (a multilateral environmental agreement on
wetlands ratified by 171 countries, including India, which ratified the Convention in
1982) uses a broad definition of wetlands as ‘areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water,
whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or
flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water, the depth of which
at low tide does not exceed six metres’ (Ramsar 2016).
To ensure connectivity between different habitats, Article 2.1 of the Convention
provides that riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands and islands or
bodies of marine water deeper than six metres at low tide lying within the wetlands
may also be included within the boundary (Ramsar 2016). This broad-ranging
definition thus covers a large category of inland aquatic systems (such as ponds,
lakes, marshes, swamps and peatlands); coastal and nearshore marine ecosystems
(such as coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and estuaries); and human-made
wetlands (such as rice–paddies, fish ponds and water storage areas as tanks,
reservoirs and dams).
The term ‘water bodies’ is commonly used in the Indian water sector to distinguish water storage areas from flowing systems such as rivers (GoI 2018a).
Wetlands are diverse, ranging from open-water-dominated systems (such as lakes,
ponds or tanks), wherein evapotranspiration is not constrained by water availability,
to those wherein water is at or frequently below the surface (such as swamps and
marshes), and evapotranspiration is regulated by plant physiology (McCartney and
Acreman 2009). Thus, all water bodies are wetlands, but not all wetlands are ‘water
storage’ areas, in the sense used by the water sector.
India has a diverse wetland regime ranging from high-altitude lakes of the
Himalayas, floodplains and marshes of the Gangetic–Brahmaputra alluvial plains,
saline flats of Great Indian Desert, tank-studded Deccan Peninsula to extensive
mangroves and coral reef areas bordering the country’s east and the west coastline
(Kumar et al. 2017). As per the National Wetlands Atlas (SAC 2011), India has
15.26 million ha under wetlands, accounting for nearly 4.6% of her geographical
area (Fig. 1). In terms of biogeographic zones, the coasts and the Deccan region
have the maximum wetlands areas, the proportion of natural wetlands being higher
in the former and human-made in the latter.
Wetlands, in their various occurrences, forms and characteristics, play an
important role in functioning of the water cycle (Bullock and Acreman 2003). As
water moves through the surface or underground, it passes through wetlands, which
in turn regulate the quantity, quality and reliability of water. Wetlands provide vital
water-related ecosystem services at different scales (e.g. clean water provision,
wastewater treatment, groundwater replenishment) and, thereby, offer significant
opportunities to address water management objectives with sustainable and, in
Wetlands and Water Management: Finding a Common Ground
107